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Features: DVD
Mel Coplin (Ben Stiller), a slightly uptight and discontented young entomologist, embarks on a wild cross-country adventure to find his birth parents. To accompany him, his adoption agency sends counselor-in-training Tina Kalb (Tea Leoni), a leggy beauty on the rebound from a failed marriage and badly in need of a little love and affection. Mel's wife, Nancy (Patricia Arquette), who's been obsessed with regaining her figure since the birth of their son, is in need of some amorous attention herself. When Mel and his entourage finally appear at the door of his natural parents (Lily Tomlin and Alan Alda), their apparently warm welcome sets the scene for a series of hilarious and unpredictable complications.
"...deadpan, dead-on..." Richard Schickel, Time Magazine
"Two thumbs up!" Siskel & Ebert
"...sneaky, sidesplitting...wonderfully mad odyssey of a movie..." Janet Maslin, The New York Times
"Hang on and prepare to laugh continually." Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today
"Some funny moments await..." BoxOffice Magazine
Editor's Note
Writer-director David O. Russell follows up his dark independent comedy SPANKING THE MONKEY with this hilarious romp about a man who goes on a quest to find his biological parents. Mel Coplin (Ben Stiller), a new father, is convinced that he won't be able to give his son a name until he reunites with his real mother and father. So Mel, his depressed, neglected wife, Nancy (Patricia Arquette), and a sexy adoption consultant named Tina (Tea Leoni) set out to find them. By the time they reach the New Mexico home of Mel's true parents (Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin)--two laid-back hippie scientists who are in the LSD business--Mel's marriage appears to be completely demolished. But the wackiness doesn't end there, since his neurotic, overbearing adoptive parents (George Segal and Mary Tyler Moore) arrive just in time to add even greater confusion to the mix.Russell assembles a cast who have contributed greatly to the development of American screen comedy, and they throw themselves into their roles with great fervor. Commenting on identity, sexual and cultural prejudice, and the convention of marriage, Russell's script is a farcical laugh-fest that is at once intelligent, fast-paced, and witty. His assured, grounded direction makes FLIRTING WITH DISASTER's humor all the more outrageous and hysterical.
Plot Summary
Trying to fill a void in his otherwise perfectly satisfying life, a young man and his wife embark on a raucous cross-country journey to find his birth parents. Accompanied by a seductive, overly attentive adoption counselor and trailed by his jealous adoptive guardians, he finally meets up with his free-spirited biological parents--and the fun really begins. Featuring standout performances by an all-star cast--most notably Mary Tyler Moore and Lily Tomlin--FLIRTING WITH DISASTER is a road trip unlike any other.
| Features | Widescreen Version | | Dolby Surround | | Chapter Search |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Buena Vista |
| Release Date: 1/13/2004 |
| Running Time: 95 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1996 | | Catalog ID: 17250 | | UPC: 00717951002433 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Independent Spirit (1997) | | | David O. Russell, Nominee, Best Director | | | David O. Russell, Nominee, Best Screenplay | | | Lily Tomlin, Nominee, Best Supporting Female | | | Richard Jenkins, Nominee, Best Supporting Male |
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| | Professional Reviews | USA Today
"...A lumpy-bumpy road comedy in which expectations are constantly, and hilariously, deflated....Hang on and prepare to laugh continually..." -- 3 1/2 out of 4 stars 03/22/1996 p.1DEntertainment Weekly
"...Top-drawer cast....One of the ha-ha funniest movies currently [available]..." -- Rating: B 04/12/1996 p.51 Variety
"...A diabolically clever satire....Bracing and original....The laughs fly thick and fast..." 03/25/1996 Los Angeles Times
"...A beautifully balanced, frenetic comedy about searching for love in too many places, FLIRTING thrusts you into a sexy, giddy maelstrom of confusion, mischance and misadventure that gets funnier and funnier as it goes along..." 03/22/1996 p.F1 Chicago Sun-Times
"...[A] very funny film..." 03/29/1996 p.31 Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
...The movie, it becomes clear, is using the search for roots as an excuse to introduce a series of strange and eccentric characters, and the more of them we meet, the funnier it gets. - Roger Ebert
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5
